My first window mistreatment

BEFORE

AFTER

I am so excited about this you guys! I thought about it for a couple of months but didn't have the nerve to just do it! I have been so inspired by all the posts you talented bloggers have put up about your mistreatments and have really been wanting to try it. I am the perfect candidate....we are in a rental and I don't want to spend money on curtains that only work for this house and honestly.....you can spend a small fortune just for one window after buying the actual panels AND the hardware. Add in the fact that my son Michael wanted something nascar and so I wouldnt have been able to settle for something found on sale.

I got this specific mistreatment idea from Kimba at A Soft Place to Land and you HAVE to read it first because she makes more sense than I do!

Michael also needed a shelf for all the nascar collectibles he has that really didn't have a place to live in his room. Here they are piled on a table in his room.

I went back to the Nester's sight and read back through all her posts on the subject......thanks Nester!!! You MUST go visit her blog even if you just read the window posts your life will be forever changed :)

I went to Lowe's because I had $11.42 on an un-finished giftcard. All I had to buy was the board, furniture tacks and 2 brackets.....I even HAD to buy 3 mum plants for my front bed to finish up the card!

One thing I do have in my linen closet is a TON of extra sheets.

With 3 boys and 4 twin beds we are never short on sheets. I used a black flat sheet that is all by it's lonesome (this is pretty common in my house) and I also used the 2 extra nascar pillow cases since the other 2 boys are no longer using them (the third is still on Michael's bed so it is a great tie-in) I didnt want to cut anything just in case I might need it as a sheet again (i'm glad to read on the other blogs that I am not the only one who thinks this way). I did open the pillow cases on the seam but I know if need be I could stitch them back up again in a jiffy.

It may be hard to see here but all I did was use the tack to hold up each corner. After that I tacked up the middle making a pleat first. I then kept going half and half while making pleats and just tacked it up as I went. This is the back panel.

This may not make sense to you since it really only makes sense in my head......but go read the this post on Kimba's site (with much nicer fabric) and then it should start to come clear for you.

This is just 3 halves of the pillow cases (i have one leftover) I used no sewing at all in true mistreatment style. I bought a 1x6 board that was 6 ft long so the length was just perfect, no cutting.I used the upholstery tacks to put the fabric onto the board and hubby hung the new valance/topper/shelf over the window using the brackets. I used my hot glue gun to connect the 3 pieces of pillow case and make it look seamless. Now we have a back panel, a valance and a shelf! I know it is hard to tell from this picture but it looks really good!

I LOVE THEM! Michael loves them!!! Even Jeff thinks they are great (even though he made this face when he saw me tacking a sheet over the window)
















I also got a shot of Michael happily arranging his cars on his new one of a kind shelf :)